FROM METASTABLE TO STABLE STATES IN A MAGNETIC SYSTEM WITH MANY DEGREES OF FREEDOM

The path, from remanence-type states to minimum energy states, followed by magnetic systems with many degrees of freedom, is examined in terms of models describing exchange coupled regions. We observed large departures of the behavior of these systems from the classical exponential decay and, noteworthy, the occurrence of a waiting time for the development of thermally activated irreversible processes.